1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an input circuit for an electronic circuit, in particular to an input circuit for an integrated circuit such as, for example, an integrated memory circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital integrated circuits such as memory modules, for example, communicate with other integrated circuits using signals on lines, wherein the electrical potential of the signals contains the information. The signals are, for example, data, address, clock and/or other signals. To receive and assess the signals which have been externally applied to the integrated circuit, input circuits are provided in the integrated circuits. In general, the potential of the applied signal is compared with a second voltage (which, as a reference voltage, may be constant or may be in antiphase with the input signal) to assign a state level to the result of the comparison. Input circuits contribute, to a great extent, to the current consumption of an integrated circuit, and thus, it is desirable, particularly in the case of applications which are critical in terms of current consumption, to reduce the current consumption of the input circuits of an integrated circuit. In addition, in conventional input circuits, it is not possible to separately set the timing response for detecting the rising and falling edges of the input signal.
Therefore, there is a need to provide an input circuit which can be used to reduce the current consumption and additionally, to set the timing response in a more specific manner.